I’ve moved from a jurisdiction that charges income tax to a jurisdiction that doesn’t.
Costs are about 50 percent lower here. On everything. The prebate sounds like a good idea, but that’s money that has to be redistributed, which means you need a bureaucracy to administer.
Assuming I make less than the federal income tax threshold, and assuming I spend about 10 bucks a day, I would end up about 50 bucks/month ahead of the game. No income tax saves me about 150/month, and the ‘pre-bate’ would be about 50 bucks more.
The problem with the Fair tax is while I benefit I don’t want to be the beneficiary. I want a tax system that benefits those who make the most more than a tax system that rewards people for not doing much.
Sure I might gain 50 bucks/month more, but I don’t intend to stay at this level of income for much longer. I’d rather have a system that pays off for me down the road.
“The prebate sounds like a good idea, but that’s money that has to be redistributed, which means you need a bureaucracy to administer.”
It’s highly automated, with check printing and envelope stuffing machines, computers to keep track. Printing and sending out checks is one thing the federal government does well. In the last year of George W. Bush, the Treasury sent out tax rebate checks twice to more than 120 million American households, and they did it without a hitch and fast.
To administer any government program requires a bureaucracy including tax collections and refunds.
The FairTax Rebate does not reward people for not doing much. The Rebate merely returns taxes already paid. In your case you are earning below the poverty line and you will net about $50 a month from the Rebate so you say. How many people are like you as a percentage of the entire population? Very small percentage. It’s not worth worrying about unless most Americans become poverty stricken.